1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a fastener holding device which holds fasteners, such as screws, securely in contact with a driving bit, and more particularly, to a fastener holding device intended for use with a powered tool.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional screw holding and driving devices show various means for holding a screw in position while screwing the screw into a work material, such as wood. Such screw holding devices do not provide a means for securely holding a screw head with a driving bit to prevent slippage of the bit from the screw head. In addition, some screw holding devices provide an elongated sleeve around the driving bit to hold the screw therein. To use such screw holding devices, an operator must apply substantial pressure on the screwdriver handle to force the screw into a work material. Such pressure can result in a penetration of a screw at an offset angle.
For some fastener application, washers of various types are used with the screw prior to driving the fastener into the work material. In a typical application, a washer is pre-mounted on a screw and positioned adjacent to the head of the screw. However, if a conventional screw holding device using an elongated sleeve is used, the placement of a washer adjacent to the head of the screw is not possible.
In addition, the conventional screw holding device using a sleeve to hold a screw typically uses a magnetized driving bit to prevent the screw from falling out from the sleeve. Such a magnetic driving bit cannot hold the screw substantially perpendicularly with respect to the work material if the screw is sufficiently heavy (e.g., when using a larger screw). Even if the magnetic driving bit can initially hold the screw perpendicularly with respect to the work material, the driving bit has very poor holding power, and as a result the screw can easily tilt to an undesirable angle when uneven force is applied on the head of the screw. Moreover, when non-metal screws are used, such magnetized driving bit cannot be used, since an operator must manually hold the screw, which defeats the purpose of the fastener holding device.